Pray. Don't Eat. Fail.Try Again.

We've heard it, read it, thought it, shared it, and known it for most of our lives. It takes time to be successful at anything. A lot of time. And work. No one gets to be successful without scars to prove their journey. We all get smacked on the side of the head when we least expect it and life isn't always chocolates and rainbows.

It took you a while to get good at what you do now. But are you doing what you truly love? Are you doing something that you love more than you love yourself? Have you found your purpose? How do you define what success means to you?

Imagine your work becomes world renowned

You could become Barton Fink – the fictional character who suffers debilitating writer’s block trying to recreate your success – or you could be Elizabeth Gilbert.

In 2006, Gilbert wrote Eat Pray Love that spent 199 weeks on the New York Times best seller list, became a movie in 2010, and made her a success beyond the dreams of most writers. Then she had two choices and explains how failure can mean success.


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Alan Watts – The Real You

Alan Watts was a writer, speaker, philosopher, environmentalist, interpreter, and philosopher of Eastern culture who passed away 43 years ago. His talks are still - or perhaps even more - relevant today. He would have rocked at TED!

Many of his lectures have been put to video and I've shared a few on this site in the past. One of my favorite Watts' quotes sums up a lot about life; "The only way to make sense of change is to plunge into it, move with it, and join the dance." Here's another snippet that might inspire you.

Let's dance!


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Stuck Why Stuck

As I work on my new book on leadership, culture, and how we get stuck, I was sifting through notes and files and old posts. This one struck a chord. I wrote it five years ago and it still rings true.

= = =

A friend sent me a copy of Rick Butts’ e-book 7 Choices. In it, he talks about the time we work on us versus the time we work on what we do or getting customers or what we can offer. In 1943, Abraham Maslow outlined our need to belong in his paper The Hierarchy of Needs.

No matter your age or situation, you want your life to have purpose and passion. That is the core of why we may get stuck – we aren’t following either. We haven’t deciphered who we are and what drives our passion. All too often we seek external confirmation.

So why do we get stuck?

Is it because no one will help us realize our passion and purpose? Or is it that we haven’t discovered it inside us in order to tell people what we want?

Years ago, a friend gave me a copy of The Secret. I watched the first half of the film with my closed mind and arms folded and the second half taking notes. It wasn't the message, it was what we do with it. Intention, attraction, and most importantly action doesn't happen on its own. But finding what we want is more than half the battle.

We need action and focus. We are human. We get stuck. We fall into the same traps of listening to the opinions of naysayers. We fail to listen to that pang in deep in our gut. If you haven't experience this, count yourself very fortunate. That is extremely rare.

Help Is On The Way

Does this mean we shouldn’t discover people we trust to help us navigate this journey? Ask the most successful people on the planet if they get stuck and you will get a resounding – YES!

None of us is immune. But if someone asks you to help them get unstuck, forget their resume or the past and listen to what they need. If you do, magic will happen for both of you. Getting unstuck requires help and asking for it is our first step. If you're feeling stuck, let's chat.

Shoot me an email and let's chat!
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Kneale Mann | People + Priority = Profit
New Book out in 2016 – Details soon!

Dylan Mahalingam Changed the World

I can't do him justice. He will blow you away. Here's the blurb they wrote about him on the website Mother Nature Network.

At the ripe age of 9, Dylan Mahalingam co-founded Lil' MDGs, a nonprofit international development and youth empowerment organization and an initiative of Jayme's Fund. Lil' MDGs mission is to leverage the power of the digital media to engage children in the United Nations Millennium Development Goals (MDGs).

His organization has mobilized more than 3 million children around the globe to work on a variety of issues, with more than 24,000 regular volunteers hailing from 41 countries. Dylan is a youth speaker for the United Nations as well as a chief strategist and project ambassador for Under the Acacia. The recipient of numerous international and national honors.

Dylan is now 15 years old and a sophomore at Pinkerton Academy in New Hampshire. Here is his 2010 TEDTalk.

Watch, get inspired, then let's get to work.


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Kneale Mann | People + Priority = Profit
New Book out in 2016 – Details soon!

1100 Reasons

Not that you would care all that much, but this represents the 1100th post on this site since it launched in April 2008. I’m often asked why I publish here so often and it began as a test to see if I could stick with something for the long-term and simply share ideas. As I close in on seven years of writing and publishing, I can say the reasons are the same today as they were back then.

Whether it’s you and your mom reading it, or in the case of this site, readers from over 190 countries popping in once in a while, find your reason and create. Give yourself the space to think. Allow your ideas to flow even if you share them with no one.

I won’t list 1100 reasons of course, but after seven years here’s a list of 11 reasons – in no specific order – why I continue to publish every few days.

• Discovering how you think
• Growing real friendships and professional relationships
• Trusting and sharing ideas
• Finding a creative outlet
• Gaining valuable insight and feedback from readers
• Staying disciplined to keep writing
• Meeting people I would never have met otherwise in ten lifetimes
• Receiving calls from publishers on book ideas
• Discovering how I think
• Pushing myself to search for new concepts and material
• Become a better writer (still a long way to go!)

Thanks for dropping by and don’t ever apologize for your ideas and if you feel the urge, share them with us.

We’ll be glad you did!
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Kneale Mann | People + Priority = Progress

hdnicewallpapers.com

Fail. Create. Succeed.

We've heard it, read it, thought it, shared it, and known it for most of our lives. It takes time to be successful at anything. A lot of time. And work.

It took you a while to get good at what you do now. But are you doing what you truly love? Are you doing something that you love more than you love yourself? Have you found your purpose? How do you define what success means to you?

Imagine your work becomes world renowned

You could become Barton Fink – the fictional character who suffers debilitating writer’s block trying to recreate your success – or you could be Elizabeth Gilbert.

In 2006, Gilbert wrote Eat Pray Love that spent 199 weeks on the New York Times best seller list, became a movie in 2010, and made her a success beyond the dreams of most writers. Then she had two choices and explains how failure can mean success.


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Kneale Mann | Leadership Strategist, consultant, writer, speaker, executive coach facilitating performance growth with leaders, management, and teams.

TED | Elizabeth Gilbert

Tom Asacker | The Business of Belief (part 2)

Yesterday, I posted part one of a conversation I had with my colleague Tom Asacker who has published his latest book The Business of Belief.

This is the second part of our conversation.

You write: “We choose what we choose because we believe in it. And those beliefs are driven by our desires.” Can you expand on that?

Tom: Belief is what humans do. Our personal beliefs and desires drive our choices. And in most cases, like fish in water, we’re unaware of that reality. Let’s take a relevant example. Right now someone is reading this blog post. If you were able to ask them why, they might respond, “I enjoy Kneale’s perspective, or I like Kneale.”

If you dug deeper, you may hear, “I was bored and intrigued by the subject matter.” If you go deep enough, you’ll eventually discover that whoever is reading this is reading it because they believe it’s the right decision for them to be making at this time. And why? Because they want to!

It sounds really simple, and it is. But how and why our minds work to create and nourish our beliefs is largely hidden from us. If you become aware of how and why it happens, you’ll know how to better motivate yourself and influence others.

You write there is nothing more powerful than our beliefs and in order to change the world, we need to change our beliefs, but how do we ensure they are our beliefs and not what society or industry or a boss or friend may have convinced us because of their beliefs?

Tom: That’s a great question. And I’m not sure I can answer it in a way that would “ensure” an unbiased assessment. We are all products of our past our upbringing, experiences, acculturation, genetics, etc. It’s simply not possible to scrub our brains of all of that influence. The challenge is to develop a personal philosophy of life and living, and then consciously consider our decisions and choices within that framework. That’s what makes leaders great, and people special.

If you suggest beliefs are nothing more than working assumptions, how do our beliefs become habits or unconscious actions?

Tom: It’s simple, really. If we develop a working assumption, say that a particular brand will do the job for us because we like the price, people, design, et al., and then it DOES that job, we now have evidence to support our belief. And so, we don’t have to spend time and energy considering that particular choice in the future. The process is the same for all of our decisions.

What have been some of the influences in changing your beliefs?

Tom: I’m probably a bit different than most, in that I make it my business to know why people do the things they do. So I’m always looking for the underlying reasons behind various decisions, including my own. And it’s that process, of questioning, that has influenced most of my changes. Of course, I have been influenced by others, including my friends and the media. But I try to make sure that those influences mesh with and contribute to my personal philosophies and evolving narrative. We all do.

Our minds are motivated by various stimuli, how can we shape that data to stay focused on the beliefs that will be helpful to us and those around us?

Tom: Desire will do the shaping for you. The stronger it is, the more influence it will have over your mind’s assessment of the various stimuli. It will screen and interpret the data to reinforce your desires and beliefs. This process is neither good nor bad; it’s simply how the brain works.

You also write in the book that our feeling mind and impulses can lead us astray, so trust our guts or not?

Tom: Know when to trust your gut. If you’ve developed expertise in a particular field or domain, pay attention to the signals being sent from your unconscious with regards to that domain. But, in general, be very skeptical of your feeling mind. It’s a short-term thinker. It’s an impulsive, impatient, and quite fearful companion.

What are the key hopes you have for anyone reading this book?

Tom: To be more conscious, of their beliefs, their choices, their words and actions and to live life on purpose, with caring and daring.

Thanks Tom! The Business of Belief is out now.
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Kneale Mann | Leadership and Culture strategist, writer, speaker, executive coach engaging leaders, collaborative teams, and strong business results.

tom asacker | learntoem

Tom Asacker | The Business of Belief (part 1)

Writing a book is hard work. Many who have never attempted this endeavor, like many disciplines, have an opposite opinion. If you have ever had the inkling, here are a few things to consider. First, you need a thesis to carry your book. It is an angle, a story you want to share, a theory or outline that will hold your readers’ attention.

Next you need to write

For business books, generally that means 50-80,000 words, novels are 75,000 words and up. Then you need someone to edit it to ensure there is a flow which will keep that reader hooked. There are footnotes and credits and all that fun stuff to add in next.

Now the work begins

Once that is complete, you need to actually get it in the hands of readers which requires marketing, advertising, speaking engagements, social networking, or a myriad other channels. Oh, and if you think publishing a book will be an instant financial windfall, well, unless you’re Stephen King or John Grisham, don’t hold your breath.

Still interested?

I first met Tom Asacker through Twitter. He posted something that got me interested, then more, then I visited his website and read more about his work and philosophies. Then watched some of Tom’s speaking engagements and followed that with a phone call. We had a great chat and we've been in touch ever since.

I like Tom’s straight forward approach and he's an entertaining and thought provoking speaker. He is a seasoned business strategist, author, speaker, and marketer who knows his stuff and keeps learning every day.

His latest book is entitled The Business of Belief and it’s a fascinating read. Tom and I touched base a while back and decided to do something different. I asked if I could interview him about the book and his life and he obliged. This is the first of two parts of that conversation.

Why did you write The Business of Belief?

Tom: I don’t know yet. I’m being quite sincere. These types of non-fiction books are really about one thing: Changing people’s lives by illustrating and illuminating an emotional truth. When I hear back from people who have read the book and, as a result, have changed their businesses and their lives, then I’ll know why I wrote it.

You outline in the book that there are two factions or sources of energy working against each other.

First, is our ability to share and spread ideas faster through technology and the second is the difficulty in actually influencing the beliefs and behaviors of our intended audiences. You call it the Issue-Attention Cycle. Explain.

Tom: Awareness is obviously still a prerequisite in any type of communication process. But it’s a time consuming and expensive undertaking if it doesn't accomplish the end goal, which is belief and behavior change.

The issue-attention cycle refers primarily to public opinion, how our enthusiasm for programs or issues initially peaks and then fades off. There’s no doubt that the same thing happens with organizations.

The difference is that the leader of an organization has a captive audience. It’s up to her to make sure that she communicates clearly, frequently and passionately, and that she eliminates competing priorities on her people’s time and attention.

The theme of the book, and I assume now, your life, is belief and the ability for us to stay clear on our values. What is belief for you?

Tom: I’m only human, so many of my beliefs go unquestioned. There’s simply not enough time in the day to evaluate each and every decision. But I do make it a routine practice to question my work: Am I making a real difference in people’s lives and how can I change to improve my impact?

I also continually question my humanity: Am I as compassionate and caring as I can be? Am I making decisions that will make the world a better place in the future? The key is to be conscious, which is hard for people who are hurrying through life making most of their decisions on autopilot.

More with Tom and the Business of Belief tomorrow.
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Kneale Mann | Leadership and Culture strategist, writer, speaker, executive coach engaging leaders, collaborative teams, and strong business results.

tom asacker | learntoem

Inspirational People | Mitch Joel

We recently started a regular feature on this site. The idea came from wondering about the people who friends and readers enjoy and give them inspiration.

There were three simple rules. Is the information valuable to my work or life? Is the author doing actual work to back it up? Do they challenge me, make me think, and/or make me move to do something? If you have someone in mind, send me an email.

Mitch Joel | Six Pixels of Separation

Anyone who knows me in a real way knows that I value Mitch’s friendship and creative mind. He is the President of a thriving digital marketing firm Twist Image. When I started to publish content on a regular basis in 2008 (over 850 posts so far), Mitch reminded me consistency is the key. And he walks the talk publishing seven fresh pieces of content every week. For free!

If you're wondering if blogging and/or podcasting can help your business, Mitch's focus has created opportunities that would not have otherwise happened.

It Takes Work

Each week, Mitch writes and publishes five new blog posts, one podcast, and a list of interesting links. Despite a demanding speaking schedule (go see him if you haven’t, he’s an outstanding speaker), working on his second book Ctrl-Alt-Del, running his agency, providing solutions for clients, and spending valuable time with his family, it’s rare when his input drops below that goal. Did I mention it was all free?

In more than a decade, he has only asked his readers for something on three occasions. Once to promote his first book – Six Pixels of Separation, second was to help raise money for the End Malaria effort, and recently to help Light The Night Walk.

Joel is an avid reader, defender of the written word, and open minded enough to take on new ideas and perspectives. And he's a funny guy!

Thanks Mitch, for sharing and inspiring.

Kneale Mann

watchmojo

Inspirational People | Jay Platt

I thought it would be cool to do an ongoing series looking at smart people doing great work, publishing useful information, and sharing their passions for all to read. This is a chance to showcase those who inspire us through their leadership.

If you have someone in mind, send me an email.

There were three simple rules. Is the information valuable to my work or life? Is the author doing actual work to back it up? Do they challenge me, make me think, and/or make me move to do something?

Jay Platt | Mr. Unstoppable

Jay enlisted in the U.S. Marine Corps when he was 17. It was going to be a career of public service. But 15 years later, as he was providing leadership as a Gunnery Sergeant, he was forced to retire from his passionate work because of the diagnosis of a rare form of cancer which cost him his left eye.

Instead of giving up and accepting this terrible news, Jay got treatment and then got back to work. His goals and dreams became even stronger and he has since dedicated his life to helping others see the value of living every single moment.

He has completed 2,000 mile hikes, swam from Alcatraz to San Francisco blindfolded with his feet and hands tied, and swam the Mississippi river again blindfolded, handcuffed, and shackled, all the while raising thousands for charities and causes dear to his heart.

Jay Platt is a gifted writer and speaker. He gives back constantly. And recently he announced that he is facing another setback but his attitude remains extraordinary.

Thank-you, Jay for your inspiration and courage.

Kneale Mann

Jay Platt

Radiohead or Barton Fink?

Elizabeth Gilbert who authored the wildly successful Eat Pray Love admits that she may never replicate that accomplishment for the rest of her life. She adds that it doesn't mean she won't find satisfaction and passion from the rest of her work.

Playwright Barton Fink had some success but fell apart when he was forced to create the next great American work. The Coen Brothers' story gets weird from there (no surprise) but Fink personifies the fear every writer has within. Will he write another successful work? Is her biggest success behind her?

OK Computer or The Bends?

Music purists argue over Radiohead’s finest hour. All measurements of commercial success point to the fact that the band has never reached the level of achievement they had with two iconic albums.  Kid A, Amnesiac, and Hail to the Thief are also fine works and I'm certainly glad the band didn't decide to pack it in and measure success with metrics from earlier milestones.

And when you can look at your successes, perhaps you worry if the good times will continue. Companies attempt to recapture former glory all the time and few achieve it. But the bigger question is, why do we do it? Why do we point to a single event in our careers or businesses and use it as a barometer for the rest of our work? Why do we think that future success - though different - can't be just as or even more satisfying?

Dump and Roll

One of my mentors once explained that he would toss early. He knew himself well enough that if an idea was struggling after a few passes, he’d leave it to fend for itself. Some came back, some went away.

When you’re experiencing business or leadership best sellers, celebrate them. But understand that to replicate the past will require a time machine and a bunch of luck. It’s how we grow with wins and losses that make us stronger.

Try Learn Grow

There are negative events in your past that you can point to as leadership growth spurts. They may not have felt so at the time but with reflection you can see that you needed them to get closer to your next win.

Any great leader will have a long list of events that didn’t go their way. That’s why they can navigate through the set backs and successes we all experience. That’s why they are leaders. And the essence of leadership is helping people who are flawed, make mistakes and find solutions just like you.

Don’t be so hard on yourself, best sellers and writer’s block come with the territory. It's what you do with them that counts.

Kneale Mann

threehundredpages

What's In It For You

How Can I Help?

I have spent 27 privileged years working in marketing and media. The people I’ve met and learned from, the projects I’ve overseen and worked on along with the invaluable experience I’ve gained has certainly not felt like work. It is my passion.

CMO for Hire

In short, I help business do business better. I work closely with business owners and managers and stakeholders on the improvement of marketing efforts and results.

My first task is to simply get a sense of the current situation. Then together we work on solutions. There are no preconceived or prepackaged solutions. Everything is customized to each situation.

Strategist. Writer. Speaker. Consultant.

We all want our companies to grow. The common shared wish is for the process to be painless and swift but we know that is not reality. Growing your business takes work, time and patience along with precious resources. And that’s where I can help.

From the highest level, I am a business consultant who specializes in marketing with a finer focus on digital media. Through careful analysis, I can outline affordable options for you to see more results from your outbound marketing.

Analyze. Plan. Implement.

It may include overseeing the redesign of your website or training your team to navigate the social web. It may be taking a closer look at your current marketing efforts to suggest a more effective way to reach your targets. It is up to your situation, not my past experience that will determine how we will work together.

I can create workshops for your team to ensure they are equipped with the necessary tools to embrace these additional activities.

The result is that you and your team will have a repeatable process you can integrate with your current and future activities. Your return on investment is the implementation of a refreshed plan focused solely on your revenue goals.

I’m always happy to talk about how I can help. Let’s do that.

Kneale Mann

image credit: demitrineyt